Baiken - Ki

Baiken barely heard noise, and managed to get her eye open enough to see Fall standing in the way, see Carolina strike her down and toss her aside. Nothing would stop her. That was Death, animate and drawing ever nearer. The waters of the river Styx sloshing at her feet.

Despite herself, Baiken wanted to laugh. This was the end? She'd never imagined herself dying gloriously, but like this? Cut down by her own blade? What kind of survivor was she?

Baiken's self-derision kindled something within her. A deeply ancient sensation, indescribable and incredibly vibrant, flickering just out of reach. With no motion in her body, with no options left, she threw caution to the wind and stoked the flames.

Dying like this was an insult. Not to her colony, not to her ancestors. To her.

Time seemed to be moving in slow motion. Baiken could see Carolina adjust the blade, preparing to stab. The feeling deep within grew, slowly and steadily.

This death was an insult to the Baiken of the past, who scratched and clawed and waded through blood to her ears simply to reach this point.

The blade glided towards her. In no time, it would pierce her heart. But something new resided within. Something primordial. Something powerful.

This death was an insult to the Baiken of the future, who could have done so much more, could have been so much better, but was being snuffed out here, like the premature awakening from a beautiful dream.

Could Baiken be content with a death like this? No. Absolutely not. Baiken was a killer. A warrior. The only way out was through violence, just the way she liked it.

That's what it took to be a survivor.

What felt like raw willpower condensed in the space just in front of her heart, pulsing in rhythm with its beat. Baiken felt the world around her pulse in kind, and as the blade drew ever closer the pulse quickened, faster and faster until it felt like it would rip its way out of Baiken's body entirely. With the barest fragment of a thought towards unleashing it, the power growing within her escaped all at once, pouring forth like breaching floodgates in a crashing wave of power made manifest.

As vitality surged through Baiken's body, cleansing her exhaustion and mending her injuries, a thought drifted lazily through her subconscious. In her world, there were four common types of magic. Fire, wind, lightning, and water. These were well known, and often practiced to varying degrees. Then, there was a fifth. It lay dormant in all humans, and few knew how to channel it or even access it, but the Japanese were most naturally gifted in accessing it. Baiken, despite her lack of aptitude, must have tapped into her own well of power. For the moment, she was fueled by the energy of life, empowered beyond her own limits by the fifth type of magic.

Ki.

(...)

Whatever that pink energy was, when it came out of Baiken it hit Carolina like a bomb. She'd been ragdolled instantly, sent careening back through the hole and across the garden like a cannonball, with a similar amount of collateral damage once she collided with the far end of the pond. Still, Carolina was in good shape, and recovered quickly. Good thing, too- what she saw made a nervous lump settle in her stomach.

Baiken wasn't just up on her feet, she was glowing. A pink aura emanated from her skin, swirling around her in snakelike wisps and creating a tangible pressure in the air, even this far away. Baiken met Carolina's gaze across the garden, and her eye glowed with the same eerie pink, pulsing slightly brighter and darker like a beating heart.

***

FreestyleKneepad, Bonus